Transfer device



Sept. l5, 1.931.

-A. 1 BAusMAN v TRANSFER DEVICE Original'Filed June 10, 1929 2 Sheets-Shen 1 Sept. l5, 1931. A. l.. BAusMAN TRANSFER DEVICE original Filed June 1o, 1929 2 Sheets-Shen 2 INvEmoR Agza/lmvnw/M l ATTORNEY which Patented' Sept. 15, 1931 UNi'rEDsrArEs PATENT oFFicE ALONZO LINTON-BAUSMAN, SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS TRANSFER DEVICE Original appli-cation filed .Tune 10, 1929, Serial No. 369,710. Divided and this application led April 8,

1930. Serial No. 442,566.' f

' This invention relates to improvements in transfer devices of the type enabling articles to be transferredfroin one to the other of two oppositely moving conveyers. Y

' The invention is'adivision of that disclosed 'in my copending application Serial No.

, 8695710pfiled June 1929.

The general lobjectof thisv invention is to provide a transfer device which 1s suitable for use'` in handlingconfections or the like and which will effect the transfer without requiring'theconfections to drop, bump or slidel duringthe' transfer. A l p VOther objects and advantages will appear t5 as they detailed description proceeds and will be particularlypointed out' in the appended claims. yk"

' The invention will be .disclosed `with reference to the accompanying drawings, in

1 is a small scale sectional plan view of part of a cold box showing one way in which the transfer device is used and one way in which it may beniounted;

D Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the transfer device; and A l l Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views taken on ythelines 8-3 and 4 4, respectively, of Fig. 2. n l f Referring to these drawings; thein'vention features aV transfer device, which receives articles carried by a belt conveyer and transfers them to another belt conveyer without dropping them and in such a manner that the r articles on the second conveyer are in the same "i"y yorderly arrangement that existed on the first conveyer. This transfer device also reverses A the direction of travel of the articles in that it is designed to carry them in semi-circular paths and in a horizontal plane, or one which is sufficiently close to thehorizontal sothat thearticles will not fall off the device or out of place thereon. yThe device, thus, is adaptedfo'r transferring goodsffrom one of two oppositely moving and adjacent conveyors to the other,-the`receiving end of one andthe delivery end of the other being in substantially the same 'plane and ,in the plane of the transfer device. Y

v Referring ,to Fig. 1, thertransfer device -Coinprisesa circular sheet of,v any suitable flexible material.

This sheet is ivoted at 16 to a fixed plate 17, on the upper ace of which a little more than half the sheets is supported,-the remainder of the sheet being disposed below the plate,`as will be clear from Figs. 2 and 8. One edge 18 of 'this plate,

about which the sheet bends in passing from its upper to its lower stretch of travel, is straight and parallel to a diameter of the sheet and as closely adjacent thereto as 'is feasible. vThe sheet is turned about the vertical axis 16 by power applied adjacentfits outer pcripheri and in such a manner that van outward radial pull as well as a tangential pull is imparted to the sheet. Preferably, both upper and lower stretches of the circular sheet 15 are so driven. Only substantially half of the rotating sheet 15 is utilized at any one time. Conveyers a and b having oppositely moving stretches are arranged in parallel and adjacent relation on opposite sides of the axis 16 and with the delivery end of one and the receiving end of the other in close proximity to the edge 18, as indicated in Fig. 2. The result is that articles pass off the delivery end of oneconveyer onto the upper half of the sheet 15 and are conveyed by the latter in semi-circulark lacute angle' therewith. This gives a nice round to the edge 18. The two sections of plate 17 are rigidly tied together and held in the desired spaced relation in any suitable way, as by a series of rivets 19, passing through spacing sleeves 20,-such rivets being located beyond the periphery of sheet 15 as shown in Fig. 1. The uppersection of plate 17 is supported in any suitable manner,

as by a channel iron 21 and a cross bar 22,

the ends of which are fixed to any suitable support, such as the side walls of the cold boX c shown inFig. l. leenforcing plates 23 and 23 are secured to the upper and lower sections, respectively, of plate 17 at the point on each wher-e the driving mechanism is located. The same driving mechanism is used for'both the upper and `lower course of travel of sheet 15 Vand one only will be described, corresponding parts 'of 'the other being given the saine reference numerals withthe addi? tion )of a prime. The .driving mechanism includes a pair of coactin-g rolls' 24 andi/l5 which vgrip between them the sheet 15,-the plates 17 and 23 beingsuitably recessed tol `allow the lower roll to engage ,the sheet (Fig 4)'. The lower ro-ll is `positivelydriven, being -iixed to -one-en'doffa shaft v26, mountedin a bracket 2.7, secured to the under face of plate 23; Y Such shaft is driven by Abevel -gearingQS lfronii adri've shaft 29, which as shown in 15 andthe flatter 'againstthe underlying rolly V1, extends across the coldboX c and'is rotatably supported 'at/lits ends therefrom. The "bracket27 vhas an eXtensionBO which serves as intermediatek bearing for. `shaft 29.` ATheupper roll 25 is an idler whichv is carried.'

Aon la shaft 3l mounted in the free end of'an arm '32, pivoted on a shaft 33, carried by a bracket34,securedto the upper face of plate 17.l A spring 35 forces roll 25 against sheet 24. 'The shaft Q9 drives by a chain 36 and `suitable sprockets, the shaft 29 of the lower :drivin-'g mechanism at the same speed and in the rsame direction. Th'eshafts '26 andv26",

fhoweventurn in opposite directionsV because fthe driving bevel gear 28 engagesits driven ygear from the oppositeside from Vthat in which the driving gear 28 vengages its driven gear. f Y l Y i lltis-to be noted that th'e'aizes of the driving rolls are not parallel to the respective radial lines of `sheet l5 which l pass through the respective points of contact ofsuch rolls with ythesheet 15. As a result, the force imparted bythe rollslto Vthe sheet '15 may be resolved lin'to -aV driving component in a tangential dioutward lradial direction.

rect/ion, and ka ystretching component in an y The sheet l5 is thus' stretched as it is driven. `rIhe lower set of rolls are offset from the center line 37 'fon the' opposite side 'from that on which the upper set of rollsare offset and by an equal amount'. ByV sodoing, the sheet, in both rlhe two stretching components preferablyA act on the;l sheet atrdianietrically opposed points as shown. For the best'resultsjas far as keeping *thefslieets 15: from wrinkling is "concerned, the-drivingrolls should be offset from the center line 37 in the direction in which the Preferably, means are provided to support 'the sheet 15in vits lower course of travel.

particularly important in connection with candy making machinery. p rllhis is particularly so with respect to the delivery Vconveying system of' ar candy makingrmachine,

where the requirement is to convey the freshly` made candies until they have set suflicient- 4liv to'enable them to Vbe handled and packed. Usually, such delivery Y system includes a single conveyer vwhich carries the candies through so-called cold boX in which the candies are artificially cooled. In such case,

`the conveyer and vcoldbr often need to be exceedingly long andi an objectionable vamount cf floor space is required. By the use of one or more of my Vtransfer devices fand ya .plurality of conveyers the candies may be carried back and forth 'in the .cold boX, indicated in partat cin Fig; l', andthe cold 'box can Abe substantially reduced in length. n

`lnoperation, ity nay be assumed that confe'ctions, such as freshly coatedcandies, are carried on the upper stretch of conveyer a. These are carried through the colddbox c for a siufiicient time so that thecoatings have set tc an extent to enablethem' to besafely transferred by the time they reachthetrans fer'devic'e. YCo-nvey'er a would be of suitable material Yor havea confection supporting surface A,such that the candies lcan be readily loosened therefrom after the coatings have set. As conveyer a reaches the end of is upper stretch of travel land turns to enter itsreturn stretch of travel, the bending of the conveyer will strip the candies free of the belt; ,The candies pass onto the transfer de vice-without dropping and are transferred lby suchrdevice to conveyer Z) without dropping Aor Vbumping them. rrlhe Vtransfer device is thus especially .suitable for use with candies which are easily injured and need to be carefully handled. Also,the transfer device i vflhe iiivention has been disclosed herein with detail-ed variations, forA the purposes of illustration, The invention may, however, :e practiced in many ways differing specifi- `calll from those herein Ydisclosed and it is the intention not to limit the invention to Ythe features disclosed except in `so far as the :same are pointed vout in the appended claims.

V.What I. claim is: Y V

1., AV transfer device, comprising, a supportfpresenting a planelupper face and 'havlefects'the transfer without in 'any way destroyin-g the orderly arrangement of the canfdies.

ing a straight edge, a rotatable member of flexible material folded about said edge and supported substantially half on said upper face and substantially half below said face said member revolving about an axis which is iiormalto said face and close to and intermediate the ends of said edge.

2. A transfer device, comprising, a support affording a straight edge, a rotatable sheet of flexible material folded about said edge and supported substantially half on the upper face of said support and substantially half below the same, said sheet being pivoted at its.' center to said' support at a point closely adjacent said edge, and means for driving said sheet at points located adjacent the periphery of its upper portion.

3. A transfer device, comprising, a supl port affordinga straight edge, a rotatable sheet of flexible material folded about said edge and supported substantially half on the upperface of said support and substantially half below the same, said sheet being pivoted at its center to said support at a point closely adjacenty said edge, and means. located adacent the periphery of the upper portion of said sheet for imparting a tangentially directed driving force and a radially outwardly directed stretching force to said portion. f

el. A transfer device, comprising, a support having a straight edge, a rotatable sheet centrally pivoted to said support at a point closely adjacent to and intermediate the ends of said edge, said sheet being folded over said Y edge along'a line parallel to and closely adjacent a diameter of the sheet with substantially half the sheet resting on the upper face of saidsupport and the remainder below the same, and pairs of coacting rolls for gripping between them and driving the upper and lower portions of said sheet.

5. A transfer device, comprising, a support'having a straight edge, a rotatable sheet centrally pivoted to said support at a point closely adjacent to` and intermediate the ends of said edge, said sheet being folded over said edge along a line parallel to and closely adjacent a diameter of the sheet with substantially half the sheet resting on the upper face of said support and the remainder below the same, and pairs of coacting rolls for gripping between them and driving the upper and lower portions of said sheet, the axes of each pair of said rolls being oblique with reference kto the radial line of said sheet which intersects tlie line of contact of said rolls therewith.

6. A transfer device, comprising, an upper support having a straight edge, a lower support, a rotatable sheet centrally pivoted to said upper support at a point closely adjacent to and intermediate the ends of said edge,`said she-et being folded over said yedge along a line parallel to and closely adjacent a diameter of the sheet with substantially half' the vsheet resting on the upper support and the remainder against the lower support, and pairs of coacting rolls for gripping between them and driving the upper and lower portions of said sheet, the upper and lower pairs of coasting rolls being ofi'- set on opposite sides of the radial line of said sheet which lies normal to said edge.

7. A transfer device, comprising an upper support having a straight edge, a lower support, a rotatable sheet centrally pivoted to said upper support at a point closely adjacent to and intermediate the ends of said edge, said sheet being folded over said edge V .along a line parallel to and closely adjacent a diameter of the sheet with substantially half the sheet resting on the upper support and Vso the remainder against the lower support, and

pairs of coacting rolls for gripping' between them and driving the upper and lower poi'- tiens of said sheet, the axes of each pair of said rolls being oblique with reference to the radial line of said sheet which intersects the line of contact of said rolls therewith, the upper and lower pairs of coacting rolls being l odset on opposite sides of the radial line of said sheet which lies normal to said edge.

8. A transfer device com )risinO' .an u er support having a straight edge, a lower support, a rotatable sheet centrally pivoted to said upper support at a point closely adjacent to and intermediate the ends of said edge, said sheet being folded over said edge along a line parallel to and closely adjacent a diameter of the sheet with substantially l half the sheet resting on the upper support and the remainder against the lower support, and pairs of coacting rolls for gripping between tliem and driving the upper and lower portions of said sheet, the upper and lowei pairs of coacting rolls being offset from the radial line of said sheet which lies normal to said edge and in the direction of travel of that portion of the sheet driven thereby.

9. A transfer device, comprising a sup-` and means for driving the upper and the lower portions of said sheet .at points near its peripheral edge.

10. In combination, a pair of belt conveyers mounted to travel side by side with their upper stretches moving in opposite directions, and a rotatable flexible member supy ported and guided so that substantially half of its travel is in the same plane as the receiving end of one of said conveyers and the delivery end of the other conveyer and located with respect to said ends so as to reist ,--ceive .articles :carried-'by the upper A 'stretch of one 'conveyer and convey them 1n semi-circular paths to the upper stretch of the other zconveyer, the 'remainder of the travel of said memberbeing supportedand guided in another plane out of the path of said conveyers.

lil. In combination, a pair of conveyers mounted totravel side by side and in `oppo- -site directions, a stationary support having ea straight edge mounted in closely Vadjacent relationto the delivery end of one cfmveyer .fand the receiving end of the other conveyer and in the same plane as said conveyers, a f fllexible member folded yabout said edge and supported substantially half on the upper vand half on the lower face of said support,

and means for'turning said member about .an axis located closely adjacent said edge and Y intermediate the ends thereof and interine diatesaid conveyers.

4In testimony whereof I have aliXed my signature.

ALONZO lLINKTON BAUSMAN. 

